Uzbekneftegaz Opens Gas Field with Anomalously High Pressure

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — In an interview with Gazeta, Bahodir Sidikov, Chairman of the Board of Uzbekneftegaz, reported the discovery of a new gas field in Uzbekistan exhibiting anomalously high pressure, which has already demonstrated high productivity during the initial stages of drilling.

The field in question is the Muynak deposit, located in the Muynak district of Karakalpakstan. On July 26, while drilling the first exploratory well to a depth of 5,000 meters, a gas blowout occurred at 4,707 meters. The incident was safely controlled within a month. According to Sidikov, the first five meters of the exposed layer revealed pressure far exceeding all expectations and calculations, making this field unique for the region.

The company has begun drilling four additional wells to better determine the field’s parameters and estimate its gas reserves. “This gas layer is like a cake. We need to fully traverse it, determine its thickness and spread across the territory to assess the potential gas volume,” explained the head of Uzbekneftegaz.

Sidikov noted that within just two months, a single well produced 100 million cubic meters of gas at a cost of approximately 45 billion soms, generating revenue of about 60 billion soms. He emphasized that the company intends to develop the field independently, without foreign partners: “This is 100% our field. We have the expertise and financial resources to manage its development on our own.”

According to the Institute of Energy, confirmed natural gas reserves in Uzbekistan totaled 1.97 trillion cubic meters as of 2024. At the same time, production has been declining in recent years: 44.6 billion cubic meters in 2024 and 32.2 billion cubic meters over the first nine months of 2025, a 4.4% decrease compared to the same period last year. Since 2019, the decline has amounted to 14.9 billion cubic meters.

Against this backdrop, Uzbekistan is actively developing renewable energy sources while increasing gas imports from Russia and Turkmenistan.